another important study from CNIO:
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Highlights
• Telomeres are elongated during in vivo reprogramming in a telomerase-dependent manner
• Telomeric protein TRF1 is highly overexpressed during in vivo reprogramming
• TRF1 is upregulated during acinar-to-ductal transdifferentiation
Summary
Reprogramming of differentiated cells into induced pluripotent stem cells has been recently achieved in vivo in mice.
Telomeres are essential for chromosomal stability and determine organismal life span as well as cancer growth.
Here, we study whether tissue dedifferentiation induced by in vivo reprogramming involves changes at telomeres.
We find telomerase-dependent telomere elongation in the reprogrammed areas. Notably, we found highly
upregulated expression of the TRF1 telomere protein in the reprogrammed areas, which was independent of telomere length.
Moreover, TRF1 inhibition reduced in vivo reprogramming efficiency. Importantly, we extend the finding of TRF1 upregulation
to pathological tissue dedifferentiation associated with neoplasias, in particular during pancreatic acinar-to-ductal metaplasia,
a process that involves transdifferentiation of adult acinar cells into ductal-like cells due to K-Ras oncogene expression.
These findings place telomeres as important players in cellular plasticity both during in vivo reprogramming and in pathological
conditions associated with increased plasticity, such as cancer.
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"Common Telomere Changes during In Vivo Reprogramming and Early Stages of Tumorigenesis"
http://www.cell.com/...6711(17)30001-2
